Two pieces of legislation aimed at expanding access to chiropractic services have been introduced in the House of Representatives and are making their way through Congress.

The Access to Frontline Health Care Act (H.R. 531), introduced on Feb. 8 by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), would "amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Frontline Providers Loan Repayment Program," designating doctors of chiropractic and other types of providers as eligible to receive loan repayments in return for establishing and maintaining a practice for at least two years in a medically underserved ("frontline care scarcity") area. The legislation mentions doctors of chiropractic in defining both frontline care services and the health care professionals providing those services.

"Many regions of our nation, particularly the rural parts of America, simply do not have sufficient numbers of qualified health care professionals to meet the needs of the local population," said ACA President Rick McMichael, DC. "This legislation would provide vital health care to underserved patients across the country, and it would also help newly graduated chiropractic physicians establish practices and repay their student loans."

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